Scott realized what had happened--but it occurred to him that he now had a much bigger chance of being believed than if he had just turned into some person his parents hadn't heard of.
"I'm not Jake," he said. "I'm Scott. That medallion I got was magic. It turns people into whoever wore a piece of clothes. I got the bag of old clothes from the trash and I tried it out."
"Now, now, don't be frightened," said his mother. "Children shouldn't lie to adults. Tell me who you really are."
"Wait," said his father. "He's not some stranger. Either he's my brother, back from the dead, or else he's Scott, just like he said. With those choices, I have to believe he's Scott! Besides, he's in Scott's shirt. It's got to be him, Susan."
"Thanks, Dad!" said Scott. "Look, this is what happened. The medallion's change lasts twelve hours. I thought I'd go to sleep and you wouldn't talk to me until morning, when I'd already have been able to change back. I didn't know we'd get robbed!"
"If the medallion really does that," said Scott's father, "maybe that's what the robbers wanted?"
"I don't know," said Scott. "Anyway, did the police catch them?"
"They got away," said his father. "They didn't even get a good look at them. Just one man and one woman, wearing masks. Did you see who they are?"
"No, Dad, I was up here when it happened. I didn't want to get shot or anything, so I didn't go downstairs until they left."
"You don't have Scott's voice, but you really do talk like Scott," said his mother.
"Because I am Scott!"
"Wait," said his father. "If that medallion does what you say it does, maybe there is a way to see who the robbers were." Come on with me.
Scott's father took Scott and his mother downstairs. The living room was still a mess. "Over there," said his father.
All he could see was a piece of brown fabric. "That looks like one of the rags."
"It's not," said his father. "It's a mask. One of the robbers lost it. Tomorrow morning when you can change again, why don't you try using the medallion on the mask? Then we can take a picture of you--at least your head--and mail it to the police as an anonymous tip."
"Why not you, Dad?"
"Because I have to go to work tomorrow morning, but you don't have any more school until the end of the summer."
It did sound interesting, thought Scott. Use the medallion to catch the people who might have been trying to steal the very same medallion. So in the morning Scott's father woke him up and said "Well, it's about time."
Scott nodded, picked up his medallion, and went downstairs. He put on the medallion and touched it to the mask. And he transformed....
